Slimming Cheese Pie with Turkey

A discussion at the TV station:

“Yannis what shall we make next week?”

“No idea! What would you like?”

“Something low calorie, light and tasty…”

“OK! After chocolate the tastiest thing is pies..but low calorie pies? I’m not sure..””

“Well check it out- you’ll find something..”

“Great..let’s see where we can cut the calories from..”

We’ll have to use low calorie cheese and cold meats..lower the amount of oil or butter, it’ll need a little liquid but not cream, low fat milk.. how can we bind the mixture, with eggs probably.. they will be the best solution..more protein and less calories..

OK..that’s how it will turn out.. what about taste? Low calorie cheese, low fat milk.. we’d better put something in to improve the taste..but what..?

Fresh herbs and a little mustard certainly, they will help but we need something else..but what?..

Cooked Red Bell Peppers from a jar!! The best solution! They will give flavour, a great aroma and they will add great colour!

And as we are fed up of rolling out pastry let’s try something else..

So let’s make a slimming cheese and turkey pie with red peppers and fresh herbs that will be ready to eat on the table in one hour!

“Won’t it take ages to defrost the pastry?”

“No use fresh pastry from the supermarket!”

And how will it be ready in 30 mins? Only if I put it in a bread making oblong shaped baking tray used for cakes and bread.

And the rest of the pastry sheets I don’t use? Put them in the freezer for later!

Did we manage it? Take a look a see..

Diffuculty: 1 of 3

Duration:1 hour including baking

Serves:5

Ingredients

1/2 packet of fresh filo pastry

Olive oil spray

7 thin slices of packet boiled turkey

150g light grated cheese of your choice

150g cottage cheese

2 whole red peppers from a jar pre-cooked strained and thinly sliced

180g low fat milk

2 medium eggs

1 tsp of mustard

Salt and pepper

Fresh herbs finely chopped of your choice (I chose thyme and oregano)

Method

We use fresh filo pastry and not frozen. The reason for this is for it to be a quick recipe and we don’t have to wait for the pastry to defrost and it enables us to freeze the other half of the packet of filo pastry for future use.

Cut the entire roll of pastry into 12 rolls and place 6 aside to freeze in a plastic bag where it can be stored for up to 3 months.

The 6 rolls left should be unravelled with your hands to separate the filo sheets and placed in a bowl onto which you should spray or cover with the oil.

Sprinkle or spray the pastry until the ribbons of pastry are covered with the oil with a thin coating.

Put the bowl aside until needed.

In another bowl put the thinly sliced turkey, the cheese and the peppers. Put in the herbs and the pepper. Mix with a fork until the mixture is fully mixed together.

In a small bowl put the eggs, the milk and the mustard and a little pepper and mix them together. Only put salt if the cheese in not too salty.

Preheat the oven to fan forced 180c.

In an oblong cake or bread baking tray in which we have oiled the sides and bottom put the first layer of the filo pastry.

We put about a third of the pastry in the bottom layer.

Put a third of the cheese, turkey and pepper mixture on top.

Put a third of the mixture with the milk and eggs on top of that.

Repeat until all the ingredients are used up, layering one after the other.

With the rest of the milk and egg mixture cover the layered pie.

Bake for 30 mins.

Once baked remove form the oven leave to cool down, cut into slices and serve.

Bon Appetit! Kali Orexi!